Britain: Labor Young Socialists Formed

This blog and the people in the Project For a Working People's World are very excited at this development and wish the comrades good luck for the future against an increasingly hostile British capitalist class. There is an e mail below to contact Labor Young Socialists and we urge readers, especially young people to send notifications of support.  Admin

Labour’s left gets organised and creates brand-new socialist youth group

By Staff Reporter
A busy meeting entitled ‘Relaunching the young Labour left’ resolved yesterday to create Labour Young Socialists – a new organisation aimed at capturing and organising the spirit that motivated thousands of young people to support Jeremy Corbyn’s successful leadership bid.

The meeting, held at a lecture theatre in Euston, debated the aims and principles of the new organisation. It agreed upon being avowedly socialist, voting to approve a founding document that reads ‘We want to see capitalism replaced by socialism: a society whose guiding principle is no longer profit, but solidarity; where common ownership and democracy guarantee a good life for all.’ However, it rejected a return to the past, voting down a proposal to commit to the reintroduction of Clause Four of the 1918 Labour constitution (which was abolished by Tony Blair in a move seen as symbolic of Labour’s rightward drift.)

‘Labour Party Young Socialists’ was the name of a former Labour youth organisation until 1993, when it dissolved after having spent several years being dismantled by Labour’s bureaucracy due to its radical left-wing tendencies.

The new constitution also commits Labour’s relaunched young left to open borders, opposing imperialist wars, opposing all forms of discrimination and campaigning for free education. Further proposals included working cooperatively with other activist groups and parties over common issues, such as the Greens.

Labour Young Socialists resolved to create a committee and elected ten members, with five places reserved for self-identifying women. There will be a further nine committee members drawn from existing Labour-left groups such as the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy.

Further discussions about strategy reflected an aspiration to facilitate a movement rather than simply be another inward-looking Labour Party body, to engage with local campaigns and communicate with the wave of young people formerly uninterested in politics who have been enthused by Corbyn’s victory. This follows some existing work by the Labour Campaign for Free Education to demystify the party’s internal politics for new members.

Local Labour Young Socialists groups are encouraged to establish themselves in their constituencies – apart from in Scotland where a similar organisation already exists.

Rachael Ward, a newly elected member of the provisional steering committee that will build LYS in the coming months, told Leaders that she’s “excited and hopeful about this project. The idea is to create democratic structures that can outlive the momentum and energy created by the Corbyn campaign. The aim is to bring together the young Labour left into a movement that goes beyond fighting factional internal elections, and is instead outward facing, and invested in fighting campaigns in local communities.”

If Labour Young Socialists’ project succeeds it could be a key step in mobilising young activists and helping those who have joined Labour navigate the often murky waters of party procedure to carry forward the argument for a fresh start and a socialist future.

LYS can be contacted at labouryoungsocialists2015@gmail.com. Leaders also cordially invite LYS members and supporters to write for us and help broaden the debate that Jeremy Corbyn has put on the national agenda. Our debate on Labour’s internal politics will continue soon in an interview with Labour National Executive Committee member Christine Shawcroft. 
(Image: Liam McNulty)